The Not-So Stole Princess
by wolves10
Summary: Nea was just a regular human princess. 21st child of her parent's twenty-one children. Due to some problems at birth she never really expected to leave her father's castle because of an illness. But what the hell is she suppose to do when a demon with a fluffy sash kidnaps her! No Mary-Sue's and It's rated M for a reason. Sesshomaru X Oc
1. Chapter 1 The Sick Princess and Ward

"Nea-sama! Nea-sama, please come down here! Your father requested for you!" An old woman yelled into the sakura tree.

She was looking up the tree to a girl of about 16 years with dark blue-gray hazel eyes. The girl's hair was of the lightest dark brown that glinted in the sun, reaching down to her knee caps. She was sitting with her back against the bark of the tree, her legs crossed in front of her. Her hands were crossed behind her head and she seemed to be completely relaxed until the old woman came. She turned her head downward to the old lady.

"And what for this time, Ami? I mean, really, I have 20 other brothers and sisters and he wishes to see me more than he sees half of them." The girl stated bluntly. She turned her head back to the sky.

Ami face had an irritated look on it. "Really, Nea-hime, you should be happy that your father adores you so. He buys only the best for you, from kimonos to jewelry. And what do you do,I may add, but insist to secretly buy peasant kimonos! Really, you should be ashamed Nea." Ami said as she glanced at the plain, short brown peasant kimono Nea had on.

Nea glanced down at her attire with a shrug. It felt ok for her to wear these types of clothes. It felt more natural for her to wear these than the annoying kimono layers that royals are supposed to wear.

"What does father want? To tell me that I have to start taking that damned medicine again that that creepy doctor makes?" Nea asked. She had been sick since birth. They say it's because she was her mother's 21st child and that the births before had severely damaged her body. Her mother had sadly passed away 2 hours after. "But," Nea thought "who the hell wouldn't die after giving birth to over 20 children?" The mere thought was absurd.

"No," Ami said with a deadpan expression, "But it would do you some good to take it, Nea-Hime. You've been coughing lately and are having trouble sleeping again girl."

Nea climbed down from the tree and waved her hand dismissively at her old maidservant.

"Same old same old. I'll be sick and stuck in this castle for the rest of my life and everybody knows it. You all might as get used to it."

The old maidservant sighed as she watched the unusual princess walk back into the castle and into her rooms. She slowly trotted after Nea, knowing what was coming.

"Ouch! Careful!"

The old woman sighed as she watched the chambermaids undress Nea from the peasant Kimono and put her in the royal attire. If the princess would only wear the royal kimono like her sisters and brothers did, then she wouldn't have to go through this more than once and could avoid being pricked with the combs and jewelry they were putting on her. The old woman sighed as she noticed Nea glaring at the woman who was tying the yellow obi around her waist.

Nea continued glaring at the chambermaids until they left her and the old woman alone. She sighed defeated and turned around to look at herself in the mirror.

She nodded, happy the maids didn't make her look to princess-y.

She had on the regular white kimono, then a light thin pink one, a thicker yellow one, and finally the top kimono that was more decorative being a pale yellow with pale pink cherry blossoms scattered on the hem of the sleeves and on the bottom. She had asked that there be as little as possible combs and the like in her hair, so she only had two pins in her hair on each side of her head that looked like pink flowers. The make-up artist had done her eye-lids in pale pink & yellow. All in all, she looked like a modest princess, unlike her brothers and sisters that over-did the kimonos, jewelry, and make-up.

"Does it please you, Hime?" The old woman asked with one eyebrow up, afraid of the answer. If Nea-sama didn't like it, then they would have to redo the whole thing, and that's a dreadful experience. She looked at Nea with hopeful eyes.

Nea, not missing the old woman's hopeful gaze, nodded and smiled a little.

"It'll do for now. Come one, my father's waiting for me and I don't want him to send a guard thinking something has happened." Nea said as she sighed, thinking of the last time her father had done such said thing. She moved from the mirror and walked toward the door leading toward the corridor.

Ami sighed in relief and wiped her brow. This seemed to be one of those days where Nea-hime was going to be agreeable. Noticing the her princess had already left the room Ami quickly gathered herself and trotted fast to catch up with the princess as she was already half-way down the corridor.

As Nea arrived at the huge doors that lead to the throne room she could feel herself mentally preparing for what was to come. She figures her father would scold her for not taking the medicine doctor Ikeda made for her. Who could blame her though? It tasted as though it was made from a cow's ass. She'd rather eat white sticky rice than that awful medicine. She mentally shuddered at the thought.

As she was thinking about this the doors to the throne room opened and a guard announce her arrival before she could even step into the room.

"Entering honorable 21st daughter of Lord Hiroto Tanaka, Nea Tanaka!"

NEA sent the bellowing guard and irritated look and proceeded into the throne room with Ami behind her.

She saw her father look up from a discussion with his adviser and smile brightly at her.

"Nea! My child, you finally came! I was about to send a guard for you." He exclaimed as he got up and started walking to where she was, his arms open to embrace her.

Nea smiled as she made her way to her father and hugged him. She mentally sighed as she thought she was right about the guard thing. She pulled back to look at her father. He had kind smiling brown eyes that twinkled and black hair that was cut short to his ears. There was a little gray at his temples, but that was expected of a man of 46 years. He was starting to have little wrinkles around his eyes. His smile was warm and wide, showing how happy he was to see her. Nea thought her father was an example of what every man should at least somewhat be like around this age. He was kind and compassionate and not mention a great swordsmen. His only flaw was that he never took much seriously, sadly.

"I'm sorry father, but you know me. I'm picky with what I wear." She simply stated.

Ami tried not show her irritated expression in front of the two royals, but come on! That was an understatement. Nea-Hime was possibly the most difficult girl to dress in the whole region.

Not noticing Ami's changing expressions, the two royals moved closer to the throne were Nea's father usually sits. As they got there two maids brought out a cushion on which Nea sat down on. She got comfortable and then looked at her father who was already sitting down and looking at her.

"So, father what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Nea asked.

She was expecting to hear the usual "Daughter dearest, you need to start taking your medicine blah blah blah..." However, what came next she was totally unprepared for.

"Nea, as much as I love you and want to keep you here with me, I think it's time we start looking for you a husband." He father said as he sat back and grabbed the tea that had been placed beside him five minutes ago.

Nea was drinking her tea when her father said this and about nearly choked. People began rushed to her but she waved them off and put her cup down. She took a moment to catch her breath before she looked up and sent her father a questioning gaze.

"Father...I mean no disrespect...but I'm not sure I'm ready for marriage yet." She explained, trying to word it in a way that wouldn't upset him. He looked at her with understanding eyes.

"I know, and I'm sorry that I'm making you do this. But understand that I'm 36 years old, and should I die in battle were would that leave you? You would have to live with one of our relatives, or worse, one of your siblings. I wish to see you happy and in your own home. Plus, I wish to see my only child that looks like their mother happy and well taken care of. Can you please bear this for me, Dearest Daughter?" He father pleaded with her.

Nea sat back for a moment and thought about it. There were many points were he was right. She didn't wanna live with any of their relatives, and definitely not any of her siblings. And she felt guilty for thinking of denying her father the right to see her walk down the aisle. However, what if her husband was worse than her siblings? And what if she knew her husband only wanted the status symbol and not her? She looked back at her father and felt her heart tighten at the sight of his face. She was practically begging her.

Sighing, she decided to give into her father's demand.

"Alright Father. I accept your demand willingly. However, I wish to choose my husband out of the bachelors that you choose." She told him while giving him a look that said she wasn't backing down from this. He clapped his hands and smiled at her.

"Wonderful! I'll make the preparations right away then!" He exclaimed as he started pulling in people to make arrangements. Nea sighed at her father's antics and stood up.

"If you'll excuse me father, but I think I'll go lay down as I'm not feeling well." She bowed before walking away toward the door.

As she was walking with her old maidservant Ami behind her, she felt a sickening feeling in her stomach. Her eyes widen as she realized what was happening. She bent over on the floor clutching her stomach as she tried to suppress the urge to cough. Ami was by her side asking if she was okay. She could see hazily that her father and guards where running towards her. She dismissed all of it as she tried to focus on not coughing. She could hear herself whimpering as she was fighting the urge. Finally the pain became too much and she started coughing loudly. Blood was flowing out of her mouth as she caught a glimpse of her father looking at her with worry before she hit the wood floor and blacked out.

Jaken was pacing frantically around the base of their camp fire as he kept glancing at the little girl that was lying near the dragon. Sweat was running off her head and she looked as if she was having difficulty breathing. Nothing was covering her seeing as they had no blankets or such things. She was shivering slightly. Not a good thing, the imp though at he looked at her.

"Sesshomaru-sama will kill me for sure this time!" The imp shouted as he grabbed the side of his hat, tears in his eyes.

"I'm a goner!"

"Jaken."

"Dead meat!"

"Jaken."

"I should have never let this!"

"Jaken!"

The imp turned around and looked into golden eyes. The man that stood before him was about 6 feet tall with silver hair that reached past his waist. He wore armor and two swords at his side with a purple and yellow sash. His kimono was white with red flowers at the sleeves. He looked at the imp and then the girl, slightly narrowing. Jaken eyes turned teary as he ran over and bowed deeply at the feet of his lord.

"My lord! I'm so terribly sorry! Rin is sick and I fear she may have a fever. I tried giving her herbs that cure these kinds of human problems, but they're not working! I'm sorry Mi' Lord!" Jaken shouted. He tried to continue put the man silenced him.

"Cease your prattle."

"Yes My Lord! I swear, Lord Sesshomaru that I will-!" Jaken stopped mid-sentence as he realized that the man had already walked away and left him alone during the middle of his speech. He looked around with surprised eyes.

"Mi' Lord?"

Nea opened her eyes slowly as she adjusted to the settings around her. It was pitch black around her and she could tell she was lying down on her back. As the moonlight slowly made its way into the room from the open door she could tell now that she was in her room. It would appear that after the severe coughing attack the maids had undressed her and put her into a white sleeping kimono, then into her bed.

As she turned her head to the right she saw something that made her face go green. In a tiny bottle was black liquid with her name on a note tied around the neck of the bottle. She stared at it with distaste, as if looking at the corpse of a dead rabbit. Her father had obliviously called doctor Ikeda to come and make the medicine for her.

Sighing to herself she slowly got up from her bed and sat up-right. She grabbed for the medicine and stared at it in her hand. She was debating with herself on whether or not she should take it. On one hand, she'd be better a little bit for a couple of days. She'd be able to climb trees, wear peasant kimonos, and use it as an excuse not to come out for a couple days. On the other hand, the substance itself could make her throw up.

Her expression was a battling one between wanting to and not wanting to take it as she made the quick choice to swallow only a little bit of it as quickly as possible. Her face turned into a grimace as she swallowed the tiny bit of medicine. It was worse than last time she took it.

After being done with that Nea decided to lie down, now having an awful taste in her mouth. She looked through the doors of her room that lead to her personal garden that her father had built her. Her face turned to that of a confused expression as she could swear she saw a giant dog flying across the moon.

She was still pondering on this as she slowly fell asleep with her face facing toward the garden.


	2. Chapter 2 The meeting of the Sisters

Nea woke up to the sun streaming in through the open doors to the outside and right on to her face. She blinked her eyes and shielded them with her right hand. She slowly rolled further away from the door and to her left, leaving her lying flat on her stomach.

"Ughhhh."

She huffed before pulling herself up from the floor and standing up. She shook herself and walked over to her closet that was on the south wall of her room. She slowly pulled the sliding door open and took a look at her wardrobe. The first thing she saw was her princess attire. There were numerous kimonos and such. She gave them a disgusted look before pulling them back to find her regular peasant kimonos that she adored. She sat on her knees and started looking through them to decide which one to wear. Finally she found a navy blue one with light blue waves on the bottom and sleeves. She stripped of her night kimono quickly and put on the regular kimono.

Now that she was in a more relaxing outfit she decided to go venture into her private garden. She walked to the porch that was right outside of the doors leading to the garden and sat down, taking in the view of the garden. It always seemed to take her breath away when she looked at it.

In the center of the garden was a massive Sakura Blossom tree that was over 22 feet tall. It was on its own little island with a moat-like thing around it that had koi fish in it. There was a little bridge that reached from this side to the little island the Sakura tree was on. The grass in the garden was of a bright green, as it should be considering it was spring. All around the garden there tiny weeping willow trees and blue, pink, yellow, and purple flowers scattered about.

Nea smiled in happiness at the little heaven her father had created for her. Since her being sick, even as a child, she had never been able to go out and play with her siblings. Her fevers had been terrible as a child and her father had feared that playing with the other children would make it worse. So, as compromise, he gave her her own private haven to relax and have fun in. It's not like she minded though. Her siblings were all bitches and brats anyway. They were spoiled to the core, in her opinion.

"Nea-Hime! Nea-hime!"

Nea jumped in surprise as she heard her old maidservant calling her. She turned around, and low and behold, there was Ami going through her closet looking at her royal kimonos.

"Ami...what are you doing in my closet? And how did you get in the room without me knowing?" Nea asked suspiciously. She was slowly backing out toward the garden more and more as Ami kept sorting the clothes.

"Oh! Well your sisters found out about your, hmmmm... accident yesterday, and asked me to bring you to them so they could make sure you're ok. Isn't that nice of them? They wish to make sure you're in good health, Nea-sama!"Ami told her as she smiled brightly at Nea, happy to finally she some of them other princesses. It was a well know that Nea wasn't exactly the most princess-y of the 21 children of the daimyo.

"Ami's probably glad to be around people who are easier to deal with." Nea thought dryly.

"Which sister has asked to see me, Ami?" Nea asked, hoping it was a younger sister so that she could make an excuse to not go. If it was an older one though, she would have to go. Ami's smile got bigger if at all possible.

"None other than the honorable first daughter, Emi-hime! She was at the castle visiting Lord Tanaka while her husband is traveling, and asked to see you." Ami told her.

"Good lord," Nea thought with a grim face "My oldest sister. Well there's no chance in hell I'll be able to escape this."

As Nea well slowly shivering from thought of seeing her eldest sister, Ami happily pulled out a grand kimono from the end of the closet.

"Nea-hime! It's time to get you properly dressed for once!" Ami turned to her with the kimono in her arms.

Nea turned to her and her eyes went wide with horror.

"NO!" She screamed as she took off running out of the doors to the garden.

Sesshomaru appeared in front of a small hut that was located in the middle of the woods. He could smell the owner behind the small door, cowering he guessed because of the heavy sent of fear in the air.

"Old woman, come out."

"Go to hell you ass of a dog!" A shouted replied.

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at this. How dare this old wench disrespect him?

"Old woman, if you refuse to come out, then I'll slice the hut in two." He stated.

Nothing happened after two minutes.

"And you with it."

After that he heard a bolt sliding and the door opening. The medicine woman was just as Sesshomaru remember. She was only four feet tall with black tangled hair coming down to her ankles. Her wrinkled little hands were on her hips and she was staring at him with those little black beady eyes full of disgust. She had small little tusk coming from her upper jaw and was wear a horribly tattered red kimono.

"What do you want, you damn dog?" She sneered.

A deep growl emitted from the dog demons throat.

"Watch your mouth old woman. The only reason that I have put up with and not killed you yet is because your skills are of value to this Sesshomaru. "He told her, sending a menacing glare her way.

The old woman step back a bit, scared of his glare, before she regained her confidence.

"Alright, well what do you want anyway?" She asked.

"My ward is sick with a fever and I require medicine for her." He told her.

The old woman gave him deadpan expression as a sweat drop formed on her head. Surely, he realized the problem with this, right?

He continued staring at her, waiting for her to make the medicine.

The medicine woman sighed. "I guess he doesn't" She thought to herself.

"I can't help you, dog demon. In case you haven't realized I'm a youkai, same as you. I only know medicine that would cure a youkai, not a human. Find someone else to help you." And with that she made her way back to her hut.

The dog youkai furrowed his brows.

"Then what advice do you have, old woman?" He inquired.

The woman stopped before her hut and turned around. She had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Hmmm, well there's the castle of that rich human daimyo near here, up north on that mountain. I've heard he has a daughter that gets fevers quite often because of an illness, so they have a doctor there to make medicine for her. You could go there to get the medicine for your ward. But it'll take more than medicine for her to get better. She needs another human." The old woman explained.

"Hn." The daiyoukai then turned around and headed were the old woman pointed him to.

The woman watched him go before turning around and walking into her hut, muttering under her breath "Ungrateful dog bastard! I don't even get a thank you!"


	3. Chapter 3 Enter: The Demon

Nea had an irritated face as she made her way down the corridor to the palace garden where she was supposed to meet her "concerned" sisters. Ami was walking behind her, not even caring about how unhappy Nea was about wearing the grand kimono she had on.

She had to admit, it was beautiful, but didn't suit her taste at all. It was white with dark green grass at the helm of the sleeves and around the bottom. There were blue, pink, and yellow flowers in the grass along with blue birds. Nea had five other kimonos on underneath it, and it was a nightmare. She was in a nightmare she was sure. The only thing she liked that she had on was the hair clip that held up her pony tail. It was ivory with black metal around it in the design of waves. It was the one thing her father gave her that was her mothers. It made her feel closer to her mom, somehow.

Finally they arrived at the doors that lead to the palace gardens. There was pictures on the metal door that depicted enormous trees and birds flying with a pair of lovers resting under a tree holding each other. Nea looked at the lovers and felt a sort of longing stir in her heart. She'd probably never be able to do that with her future husband. She'd dreamt about marrying someone for love, but with her illness and status, it just didn't seem possible for her. She'd either be married so that her father would know that she was well taken care of or for status. Or both. It really did her no good to think about it, seeing as it was an unavoidable fate.

The doors opened and Nea walked into the garden with Ami. Sakura Blossom trees were everywhere, as well as elegant red flowers and many more. The palace garden was twice as big as her private one but nowhere near as beautiful.

As she was walking down the path she five of her sisters sitting on cushions. In the center was Emi. Emi's long black hair flowed down her back and pooled behind her on the cushion. On the side of her head she wore golden flower pins. She was wearing a bright crimson red kimono with a red dragon pattern on it. Her nails were painted deep red, as well as her lips. Her light, sharp brown eyes were looking at Nea the way a lion looks at a deer it already knows it has trapped. She rested her chin in her hand while still looking at Nea.

"My my. If it isn't my dearest youngest sister. I hope you're feeling better? I heard about the coughing incident from Ami." Her sister asked.

Nea sent a glare at Ami, who barely noticed as she was so happy to be around proper ladies, before she replied.

"Thank you, honorable eldest sister. I'm glad you took the time to care about my health, even though your stay at the castle is so short." Nea managed to choke out.

"Yes, well... I wanted to make sure father's favorite stay in good health. And I can see why you're his favorite. I thought for a minute it was mother walking down the path to scold me for something when you came down." Emi laughed this thought.

Nea was about to say something else smart to her eldest sister, but was cut short by laughter that she heard. She looked to her sisters left and saw the twins, Ayane and Ayame, laughing together. She and Emi gave them a questioning look.

"Haha you two-"

"Are so-"

"Childish!" The both exclaimed at once.

Nea rolled her eyes at them. She's being childish? Please. How is finishing each other's sentence not childish? Or the facts that both of them are 18 and still refuse to dress different from each other and have the same haircut. Both had short, black hair that came to their chins and wore identical royal blue kimonos with wave patterns.

After examining the twins Nea turned to see her other two sisters. Haru was there with her deep brown hair reaching only her waist. She held a book in one hand and seemed to be deeply engrossed in it. She had deep green eyes and pale pink lips. Her kimono was a dark pink that had Sakura blossoms on it. She wore a light pink obi with it. Out of all of her siblings, Haru was the one that Nea could tolerate a little. Haru was rather aloof and distance from most of the family, so it was easy but at the same time awkward to around her.

The other sister was Hina. Hina was already married, like Emi. She was the four oldest of the siblings and perhaps the most deceiving. Her long black hair was straight and went down to her butt. Her kimono was of a light spring green with yellow petals on it. She had the prettiest face with huge brown almond eyes that seemed innocent and small lips that shimmered light pink. However, Nea can remember multiple times when siblings would get in fights over things gone missing in the palace or rooms and the cause would be Hina.

As Nea was scanning over her siblings, Emi seemed to have been thinking on what the twins said.

"Nea, Ayane and Ayame are right" She said solemnly.

"They are?" Nea asked questionably.

"We are?!" The twins shouted.

"Yes." Emi sent them a cold glare before turning to Nea.

"We are sisters and barely see each other. There's no need for us to fight each other. Come! Sit down. " Emi told her while motioning to the cushion directly across from her.

Nea was watching Emi as she cautiously took a seat. Emi was still staring at her and smiling.

"So, I hear father plans on marrying you off to someone?" Emi asked.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Are you excited to find a husband?" Emi questioned.

"Well I-"

"Oh Emi!" Ayane shouted while looking to the older sister. She was smiling from ear to ear.

"What, Ayane?" Emi drawled out. She wasn't pleased to have someone be interrupted while they were talking.

"Ayame and I found twin husbands! We get to be near each other even after getting married. Isn't that wonderful? "Ayane told Emi, her eyes full of joy.

"Oh, that is good." Emi commented.

At this point all of her sisters, save Haru, started talking about husbands and fiancés. Even Ami joined in, talking about her husband. Nea, however, wasn't listening anymore. She wasn't exactly interested in husbands and the like. She'd rather be in her garden sleeping in the giant Sakura tree. Sighing, she relaxed a little and looked up toward the sky. It was then that she noticed it.

Up in the sky, about twenty yards up, was a glowing white orb. It was staying perfectly still in the sky, not moving even an inch. She tilted her head to the side, thinking it was the glare of the sun. However, it wasn't. And it was now gliding down toward the garden.

Nea was suddenly frozen with fear. Her throat felt dry, and she couldn't move any of her body parts. She couldn't warn her sisters about the approaching danger of the gliding orb. They were all still calmly talking, not even noticing the danger. She tried to make a noise, but it got stuck in her throat.

Finally, the orb landed on the ground and a flash of purple light came next.


	4. Chapter 4 Kidnapped

After the bright purple flash disappeared, Nea removed her hand from her eyes. She gasped in shock at what was before her eyes.

There, standing in the middle of the path, was a man unlike any she had ever seen before.

His eyes were a golden color. Not light brown like some of her sisters and brothers, but pure gold. There were magenta strips on each of his eyelids and magenta strips on his cheeks. The shape of a purple crescent moon was gracing his forehead. Silver locks reached down past his waist. He had a fluffy looking thing that was flung over his right arm. As she glanced to his other arm she noticed he seemed to be missing that limb. However, it didn't make him look any less mesmerizing or terrifying to Nea. His cold gaze slowly traveled over the females in the area. Her sisters had finally noticed the man's presence and were shaking with fear.

"D-DEMON!" Ayane shrieked before getting up and running.

The rest of her sisters did the exact same thing. The all started jumping up and screaming, tripping over each other to get away. Even Haru was screaming while running away, leaving her book behind. Honestly, if Nea was able to feel any but fear she probably would have been laughing at the lot of them.

Emi's face had rice stuck on it as she had tried to jump up and run, but ended up tripping on her long hair. She landed on the rice balls that were served to the girls. Ayane and Ayame were fighting and shrieking at each other to get into the door way to flee the demon. All the love they seemed to have for each other apparently vanished when danger appeared and their lives were at stake. Haru was nowhere to be seen. Hina, on the other hand, was a comical site to behold. In her attempt to run away she had somehow missed that she was running straight into the nearby Koi pond. She had fell in and was crying and flinging her arms above her head to grab something, even though the pond was only five feet deep and see was five foot six. The make-up she had on earlier was running down her face. Honestly, if she could, and believe her she would, she'd be laughing her ass off right now.

However, she was sure that the eyes that were staring her down now were those of a person who didn't take nonsense from people lightly. It would be dumb of her to try to run away now, seeing as he was walking toward her now. As much as she wanted to run away and scream like her sisters did she a feeling it wouldn't go the same way for her as it did for them. Just her damn luck too. First having to go meet her unbearable sisters, and now having a youkai land in front of them, probably wanting something from them.

Ami was almost to one of the doors leading to the inside of the palace when she looked back and saw something that made her old heart skip a beat.

Nea-hime was just sitting there, in the exact same place she was before. The girl hadn't moved even and inch and was looking straight at the demon. The said demon was walking closer and closer toward Nea-hime before he finally stopped a foot in front of Nea-hime staring down at her with cold eyes. The old maidservant could only watch as a conversation took place between the princess and the youkai.

"Woman, do you have any experience in dealing with fevers?" The demon demanded of her.

Nea finally snapped out of her fear induced state and looked at him as he asked the question before looking around frantically. There was shouts coming from inside the palace and feet could be heard coming toward the gardens.

The demon narrowed his eyes at her, thinking she was thinking of running away from him.

"Woman, escape is pointless. Answer the question." He warned her.

As scared as she was, Nea couldn't help but raise her eyebrow. Question? That sounded more like a demand than a question. His glare though gave her the sense that he wouldn't hesitate to kill if she didn't answer soon. She decided it would be in her best interest to answer him.

"If you're asking if I know how to take care of someone with a fever, then yes. I do" She told as she looked around again. The sound of feet was getting closer and closer.

"Hn."

Before she could turn back and look at the youkai she felt a pressure on her waist as she was quickly picked up and thrown over someone's shoulder. She felt humiliated for being in such a position.

"Hey! Put me back down now or-!"

"Quiet woman." She heard the deep voice of the demon say.

Nea felt the light blush that was already on her face go a shade deeper. So she was on the demons shoulder? Well...that was certainly...unexpected.

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to be thinking things like that.

"Demon, put me down." She demanded.

He simply ignored her and kept walking toward the walls of the garden.

"This smug bastard," Thought Nea. Who was he to ignore her? She's a princess of a powerful human daimyo and he's probably just some lowly demon. She tightened her little palms into fist before she pounded them on his armored back. However, if it bothered him, then he didn't show it in the slightest. As she continued her assault she noticed Ami in the corner of her eye near the door.

"Ami! Ami, help me!" She shouted.

Ami looked at her then at the back of the demon before turning her head to the side and looking away with guilt.

Nea stopped her attack on the man's armor and blinked her eyes in surprise. What was happening? Why wasn't Ami helping her?

Then the reason hit her. Ami was scared of the demon. So scared that she wouldn't even save the princess to whom she practically raised and vowed to give her life up for if needed be. Nea felt tears begin to form near the corners of her eyes as she looked away from the old woman and hung her head in defeat. There was no way she'd be able to get away from the demon even with someone's help, much less by herself.

At exactly the same time she'd given up a group of guards busted through the door. They looked at the girl over the demon's shoulder in shock before charging them.

The last thing Nea saw before she passed out from being so up in the air was the guards looking up at the pair from the gardens with anger in their eyes and voices while Ami was on the ground with tears in her eyes mixed with guilt.


	5. Chapter 5 Up,Up, and Away!

Sesshomaru kept flying away with the woman on his shoulder. He noticed that her breathing had evened out compared to before. It appeared that she had passed out from the height they were flying.

"Hn. Good." He thought to himself, "It makes carrying her easier."

The little fists pounding on his back earlier had not gone unnoticed by him. He had just decided to ignore it. She was only a human, so it was expected that she would panic and fight if being taken from her home. And by a youkai no less. Plus, it's not like her fist did him any real damage. It was only irritating.

He glanced back down at the girl.

For a human she would definitely be considered beautiful. She had long hair that was of the lightest shade of brown he had ever seen. Her face was delicate oval shaped with eyes that, when he had seen them, were a unique shade of blue, gray, and green with a gold-yellow circle around the pupil. Her lips where light pink and slightly open as she breathed in and out. He noted that she also had nice shaply body with wide seductive hips and full breast.

His eyes widened as he thought this before shaking his head. This girl was a human and he a demon. There was no need for him to lower himself by thinking thoughts like that of this woman. Besides, he only took her so that she could tend to his ward. Nothing else.

Speaking of the woman, it seemed as though she was awake again. Hoping that the foolish woman would not do anything stupid, he turned his head back forward. His wish though was not granted. The girl started screaming and moving frantically, trying to grab something.

"Woman,-" He growled but stopped. His eyes widened in surprise as he felt the girl slide from his shoulder before he fell backwards from someone pulling his hair back forcefully.

Nea was slowly becoming more and more aware of her surroundings as she woke up.

At first she thought nothing about how cold she was considering that she usually left her door open to her private garden. However, when she opening her eyes she noticed green moving below her swiftly. Her eyes opened all the way as the events from earlier came back to her. She began panicking and started moving around wildly and screaming.

"Woman,-" She heard the demon growl but paid him no attention.

She felt herself sliding rapidly over the demons shoulder and before she knew it she was all the way off. She reached her hands above her head desperately for something to grab onto to. Seeing as the only thing available was the demons silky locks that's what she grabbed onto. She knew he'd probably kill her after this.

The thought though never crossed her mind that the demon would lose his balance from her grabbing his hair.

She blinked in surprise as both she and the demon started falling toward the ground. The thoughts that crossed her mind were ones of how her loved ones would find her dead body.

They'd find it splattered on the ground with her eyes open and her stupid, stuffy kimono splattered with blood. Her father would probably be heart broken and go into a mourning period. Ami would probably feel guiltier than ever and would probably commit seppuku. Her siblings either wouldn't care or would be glad that their father's favorite is dead. And the worst part was that she was gonna die next to a demon that cared nothing about her and would probably be fine after falling to the ground. She closed her eyes and waited for her painful death to come.

It never did though.

Nea opened her eyes to see the demon holding her up by her obi in mid-air while he was on his little cloud thing. His eyes were red when she looked at him and he was growling deeply.

"Shit," She thought "he looks like he wants to kill me."

She gulped as she looked back up at him. He seemed to have calmed down a bit more but still looked pretty pissed off at her.

"Woman."

"Y-yes?"

Not good. He sounded extremely pissed off.

"If you ever pull something like that again, then I won't catch you when you fall. Do you understand?" He growled at her. His glare that he was sending her could literally make hell freeze over. Best to answer him before he gets more pissed off.

"Y-yea. I understand. I just got scared because of the height. Sorry. Won't happen again." She mumbled. Her eyes were cast downward.

"Hn. Good."

Before she could say anything else he grabbed her obi and threw her over his shoulder once again before taking off. She blinked in surprise at his actions before she responded.

"What the hell?! I never said I wanted to be thrown over your shoulder again!" She complained.

However a menacing growl from the dog daiyoukai shut her up right away.

"Right. Sorry. I'm shutting up now." She mumbled quietly with a blush on her face, embarrassed by her behavior.


	6. Chapter 6 Counting Hair

"One, two, three, four..."

"Woman, what are you doing?" Sesshomaru asked. His head was turned toward the girl who had randomly started counting with his eyebrow slightly raised at her. The woman had been quiet for most of the trip after the little incident earlier. It was a little worrying that she decided to start talking again.

"Counting." She stated.

"Counting what?" He questioned.

"The strands of hair on your head." She said simply.

Sesshomaru turned all the way to look at the girl now, perplexed by her answer. Why would she need to do that?

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored." She told him, as if it was oblivious.

"Hn." He decided it would be of his best interest not to question her further. He turned his attention back to in front of him.

"Hey demon," she started "why exactly do you need someone that has experience with fevers?"

This had actually been on her mind for a bit. What use would a demon have for someone that knows how to deal with HUMAN fevers? From what she understood demons and humans have similar illnesses but on different levels.

The demon took quite a while before actually answering her.

"My human ward is sick." He stated simply. He hoped this was the end of her talking. However, luck was not on his side.

"Oh, so I'm basically gonna be playing nurse." The girl's deadpan expression showed how excited she was at the prospect of being some kids nurse. She just hoped the kid wasn't a brat. Suddenly, Nea remembered something that she should have done first when she met the man, or demon. Whichever one this person was.

"Say, do you have a name?" She asked him, turning her head around to look at him. He nodded his head.

"Well what is it?"

He took his time again to answer her question. Apparently talking wasn't his best subject.

"Sesshomaru."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Sesshomaru." He repeated while giving her a look that clearly said he thought she had some upstairs problems.

"Cool. What does it mean though?" She asked again. This time he answered more quickly than last time.

"Killing Perfection." His reply was short and emotionless.

She could only stare at him.

"...Oh.."

Well, it certainly fit him. The aura around this guy and the confidence he walked with certainly said he could kill whoever he pleased.

_"Note to self,"_ Nea thought _"Do not piss this man off more than necessary. Death will be both swift AND painful."_

Speaking of names...she forgot to give him hers.

"My name's Nea by the way. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I don't think being kidnapped and taken from one's home counts as a pleasant encounter." She told him a bright smile. He sent her a glare.

"I'll return you to your home as soon as my ward gets better. One human in my company is enough."

"Really?!" She exclaimed as she looked at him with hope. She just may see her room and private garden once again.

He didn't look at her but nodded none the less. The girl had a gigantic smile on her face after hearing all this.

"Soooooo, what are you anyway?" She questioned.

Sesshomaru's face started to have an irritated look on it as the girl kept question him. Was she really that bored?

"If I answer this one question, then will you be quiet for the rest of the trip?" He asked her, irritation showing in his voice.

"Hmmmm...Ok!" She was now smiling at him stupidly. Sesshomaru sighed mentally.

"I'm a dog daiyoukai. Now stop your useless prattle." He told her before turning back around, deciding that if she tried talking again he would simply ignore her. He had answered her question, so hopefully she would hold up her end of the deal. Lucky for him she decided to keep quiet and think about what he just told.

"So he's a demon lord, huh? Well... that's... actually from the way he walks and talks I guess it's not so unexpected." She though with a defeated sigh.

With that thought she went back to thinking of the people at the castle. Now that she knew she was gonna be returned after nursing this guy's human ward, she was starting to get nervous. Would it really be ok for her to go back? Only her father would be happy to see her alive. Her siblings would be sad or upset that she's not dead. Ami probably wouldn't look at her in face, thinking that she failed her princess. The staff would think that she's some youkai whore and rumors would start up about her. And then there's thing of her father trying to marry her off. Did she really wanna get married? No, she didn't. She wanted to see the world and climb more trees besides the huge Sakura Blossom tree in her private garden. But it wasn't really a matter of if she wanted to or not. She had no choice or say-so in this matter. This demon would take her back to her father once she had nursed his ward back to health and then she would be back in the hands of her father were she could get the medicine she needed from doctor Ikeda. However, the scenery that they were passing was still enough to light her eyes up and make her smile happily. She even giggled a bit.

Sesshomaru glanced back slightly toward the woman on his shoulder. Her eyes were lite up from within and the smile that graced her face seemed to make the air around brighten just a little. His lips twitched a bit, as if wanting to smile with her, but he caught it just in time. He doesn't have to be caught in the foolish happiness of humans. His path was the way a conqueror. He turned his head back forward and focused on getting this woman to his human ward to help heal her. That was his top priority right now.


	7. Chapter 7 Meeting the Ward & Servant

**Wellll hello there people who actually read the crap I write. If you read this I was hoping maybe for some reviews? Like do you like it? What do you think needs to be worked on? Remember, constructive criticism is appreciated however being a bitch isn't ^_^ and in case you're wondering I do have more chapters written up, I just at least want one review to no I'm doing ok with this story. And if you guys have any ideas or want to comment about your favorite character that's fine. Also, I want do to many author notes like this unless something important comes up. **

**Forgot to do this at the beginning so I'm gonna do it now for the whole story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters. If I did then the story would be completely different. All rights belong to its original maker.**

_**Sincerely ,**_

_**Wolves10**_

_**P.S On with the story!**_

After nearly five hours of flying they had finally made it to the camp where Sesshomaru's ward was. He roughly threw Nea on the ground before pointing to his sick human.

"Heal her."

"Ouch," She complained "you know you didn't have to throw me. Gentle gestures will get you further than rough ones."

He narrowed his eyes at her. How dare the woman tell him how he should treat others?

"Woman, know your place. You're under my mercy as of now till Rin is healed. I advise you to watch your tone with me." He growled out before going to a nearby tree and sitting there. His eyes were closed now as he rested his back against the tree.

"Damn egotistic dog," Nea muttered under her breath. She heard a growling coming from the dog demon but choose to ignore it.

She made her way around the fire to the little girl that was resting against a...dragon? Nea cautiously moved closer to little girl and dragon. If she could avoid being eaten by something with big teeth, then she would make sure that it happened.

Sesshomaru now had his eyes opened and was watching the girl move cautiously around the sleeping beast. She was taking slow steps and glancing at Ah-Un warily. In all honestly, it quite amused the demon. Ah-Un, even though being a fearsome looking animal, only ate fruits and vegetables. The girl, Nea, looked as if she was trying to figure out how to get to the sick little girl without touching the dragon.

"Woman. Ah-Un doesn't eat any kind of meat. He won't harm you." He told her before closing his eyes again.

Hearing this, Nea seemed to relax a little bit more. She swiftly sat down by the little girl.

The child, Rin as Sesshomaru had called her, was breathing heavy. There was sweat dripping down her forehead. She was shivering so much that it looked as if her body was vibrating. Nea frowned at all these signs.

"How could you have let her get this bad?" The woman asked coldly.

Sesshomaru's eyes snapped open at her tone of voice. She was looking at him with a cold glare. Confused by her actions but not wanting to ask her what he had done, he settled for sending her the same cold glare.

"Excuse me?" He snarled.

"Her fever," Nea looked back down at the child with sympathy, knowing what she was going through "It's dangerously high. Anyone, even not in the medical field, could tell by the signs that her fever is dangerous. How could you have let it get this bad? Didn't you even think to give a blanket to cover up with?"

Sesshomaru's eyes widened a fraction before looking at Rin. Now that he looked at her he could see what the woman was talking about. The child had no protection what so ever from the elements. It was no wonder she got sick and continued to get worse. He was a youkai, so the climate and weather of the places they ventured into didn't bother him or Jaken for that matter. However, Rin was a human. Of course she would be affected. He should have realized this sooner. He wasn't going to tell the woman that he realized she was right though. That would damage his pride to much to admit that a human was right. He decided to send her another glare.

"I am away most of the time. I have a servant who I leave to take care of her. However, he does not know how to deal with human illnesses. That's why I brought you here." And with that the dog youkai closed his eyes again.

Sighing, Nea took her first and second kimono's off. She folded the first kimono and put it as a pillow under the little girl's head. She then wrapped the little girl in second kimono seeing as it was thicker. After this she put her hand on the little girl's forehead, mimicking what Ami had done for her when she had fevers as a child. She pulled her hand back quickly. The girl was burning up. Nea frowned before looking toward Sesshomaru.

"Say, do you know where I can-"

"My lord! I have found something that may cure Rin's illness!"

She was interrupted as something green and ugly jumped out of the bushes to the side. She sent the thing a glare. Who was this green...thing? He was short. No, not just short. Impossibly short. He looked about only 3 feet tall at most. And his clothes were of dull green and brown. She felt kinda bad for the green thing. It had the face not even a mother would love. She decided to be nice and smile at the green thing. It might be ugly but that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't friendly.

Upon looking around the green thing noticed Nea. He threw her a disgusted look.

Nea's eye's widened in surprise at his treatment toward her. You know what? Screw feeling sorry for him. Asshole. No wonder he was born with the face of a toad's ass. He deserved it. She sent him a cold glare.

The imp ignored her before turning to his lord.

"Lord Sesshomaru, what's this human woman doing here?" He questioned.

"I brought her here to heal Rin." He said simply. Sesshomaru was beginning to feel a headache coming on from all these questions.

Jaken's eyes widen before overflowing with tears.

"B-But Mi' Lord! I can take care of Rin just fine! I even went to the trouble of going out and finding these herbs for Rin! See!?" At this Jaken held up a handful of herbs.

"See! Lord Sesshomaru, we don't need this human woman here to take care of Rin. Her skills are probably poor in this field anyway. Just look at her clothes! They spell out rich and spoiled! I bet she had someone take care of her instead of herself when she was sick!" Jaken pointed out proudly. Why do they need this human wench? Jaken had been taking care of the lord's human ward and wasn't about to be out shined by some human woman. He would prove to his lord that he was the best servant his lord would ever find.

As the ugly green thing went on Nea could feel her anger building up at the green thing, also now known as Jaken. How dare he?! Sure, he was correct that she had had people care for her when she was gravely sick, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to take care of a sick person. There were times when she had gotten used to being sick when she was older or she didn't want her father to know she was sick so she would take care of herself. She probably had dealt with more fevers herself when she was little than most did their whole lives. And to assume she was spoiled based on the clothes she wore?! The nerve this damn toad thing had! She narrowed her eyes at him before speaking.

"Excuse me," She started "But if you're so damn knowledgeable in human medicine then example to me why this little girl didn't have _**nothing**_ to cover her from the elements? Surely you must know this, correct?"

"Well I-"

"And since you're oh-so-wise at human illnesses then you probably know that placing a cold, wet clothe on the girl's head to bring down her fever? Am I correct?"

"Of course I-!"

"So that means you also know the difference between the herb that cures a demon's fever but kills a human and the herb that cures human fevers but acts as an aphrodisiac to demons?

"W-Well I-!"

"Oh and of course you know that-!"

"**Enough**!"

Both Jaken and Nea turned to the dog daiyoukai with wide eyes of fear. His eyes had turned red now and Jaken noted with fear how his lord looked close to changing to his true form. Not a good thing.

Sesshomaru glared venomously at the two beings that where staring at him with open fear. Good.

The two's bickering had caused the dog demon's ward to stir and Ah-Un. Not only were they arguing over the most foolish of things. Sesshomaru mentally sighed to himself. He could feel a headache approaching quickly. He turned his head to Jaken.

"Jaken, you're to help this woman if she needs anything while she takes care of Rin. This is an order." He said before resting his head back on the tree and closing his eyes.

Jaken stared at his lord, his mouth a gaping like a fish and eyes wide. His Lord wanted him to do WHAT?! And for a human none the less! Jaken gave the woman his most menacing glare before turning to his lord and complying sadly.

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru."

Nea grinned like a cat down at the toad creature. Just wait until this frog asshole got a taste of being her bitch. She'd make his life living hell.


	8. Chapter 8 Talking by the Campfire

Nea kept to her word about making Jaken's life hell. She's been having him run from the campsite to a creek that was about a mile away for water. After his fifth time doing so the imp had simply run out energy and collapsed down on the ground, spilling the contents in the bucket. Nea sighed before walking over and picking the bucket up from the unconscious imp.

"Maybe I went too far?" She wondered.

As she was walking back to Rin, who was doing much better, she noticed that the dog youkai seemed to be asleep. It was strange. He almost looked peaceful instead of fearsome and intimating. As her curiosity got the better of her she set the empty bucket down. She walked as quietly as possible over to the demon and put her hand above his head on the bark of the tree. She leaned over him to look into his face to see if he was sleeping; hoping to see if the myth her father had told her about demons not needing sleep was true. It was just a simple curiosity. Nothing more.

Right as she bent down his eyes snapped open and she found herself on her back on the ground as the demon leaned over her, his face only mere inches from hers. Her heart's pace quickened as she could feel his breathe on her face. Their position... was to say the least awkward. His knees were on both sides of her hips and he was straddling her waist. What made the position even more awkward and indecent was the fact that his hand was wrapped around both of her wrist, which was being held above her head. Nea's face was turning a deeper shade of red each moment as the demon's gaze intensified. If anyone had come upon them in that moment, she realized that they would have thought the two were about to commit an act only married couples should do. She deadpanned at this. No one would have thought that the dog daiyoukai was glaring at her with his intense gold eyes and that the girl was more embarrassed rather by the position the two were in rather than who was straddling her. The dog demon how didn't seem bothered by it at all.

"What are you doing?" He asked calmly.

"U-uh, wellllll...just...checking?" She squeaked out. This was bad. She definitely didn't wanna tell him that she had wanted to see if a myth was true. She'd look even more stupid!

He raised his eyebrow at her, "Checking what?"

Shit. Now she'd have to admit it to him or try to lie to him without him being able to tell. She couldn't tell which would be harder, lying or telling the truth. Ehh, what the hell. Lying wouldn't make her scared as badly as telling the truth.

"W-well you see, I-I was simply making sure you were awake. You never know when were gonna need you to fend off some other demon. Hehehe." She tried to make it sound believable, she really did, but lying wasn't exactly her greatest skill. She probably wouldn't have believed herself if she heard that lie. And it looked as if the dog youkai didn't either, but for whatever he got up off her and walked back to his tree and sat.

"This Sesshomaru is always on guard. You do not need to fear." He stated before closing his eyes.

Nea could only nod her head at the man before turning back and walking to where the sick child laid.

It's not that Sesshomaru believed the woman. Not even for a moment. It's just he felt that it would wise of him not to question her further.

He was relaxing in peace by the tree while the woman tended to Rin. Jaken had passed out due to the woman over working him. Sesshomaru was going to stop it after the imp's second run to the creek, but he had noticed the glare Jaken kept giving the girl and decided it's better if they were not in the same place at the same time. He didn't want a repeat of earlier's headache-inducing argument.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes as he heard a strange humming sound. His trained ears picked up were the sound was coming from and he blinked in confusion.

The sound was coming from...the woman?

He had never heard such a tune before it was dark but beautiful at the same time. It was almost as if the song itself was luring him toward the human female. And speaking of the female, he started noticing strange things about her. Like how now that she had not as many kimonos on he could see more of her curves. Her hips were simply amazing, seeing as they were more rounded than he originally thought. And her large breasts were more evident now that they were not hidden beneath so much clothing. But her physical features were not all he noticed about her. That strange brown hair she had that had loose little curls in it near the bottom was flowing straight down her back and a good two feet on the ground. The campfire had made her hair seem as if it had bronze or metallic gold strands going through it. It was lovely he thought. And her face was softer than before with her eyes seeming to be a glowing dark blue-grey color with gold circles around the pupil. Her lips were a shade darker than light pink now. The way the woman was looking and taking care of Rin almost looked...motherly. Sesshomaru could feel his body start to heat up and his fangs growing as he continued to look at the woman. Suddenly his eyes snapped wide before he shook his head to get rid of the thoughts of the woman. He could not believe what was happening. This this this, THIS human was causing him to want to make her his mate! _**His**_ mate! A human!? He'll make sure hell and heaven freeze over before he ever considers a human his equal, much less his mate. Even the thought of having hanyou children was enough to make his blood run cold. No. Humans were inferior to demons and that's how he'd like to keep it. The only tolerance he truly had for humans was Rin. That's it. However, that damn song the woman was singing was keeping him from thinking straight.

"Woman," he growled "Stop singing that foolishness. Now."

Nea turned her head to look at him, fear in her eyes but none the less she consented.

"Alright. Gesh. Didn't know you hated music so much." She muttered before standing up.

"I'm gonna go to bed. Your ward's fine for the night. That green toad-thing however...well I'd help him but he's sorta an ass to me."

"That's fine. Do not worry about Jaken. I've put him through worse."

Nea raised her eyebrow at the last thing. What could be worse than running over a mile five times?

Hm, well not her problem. She took her wooden sandals off before going over to a tree and climbing up to the first branch nearest to the fire. As much as she didn't wanna be on the grounds with the demons she also wanted to keep warm. It was starting to get to the time of year were the tree's lost their leaves and the air became chilly. She put her back against the bark and laid her head back, relaxing for a bit. She'd been taking care of the little girl all day and part of the night. As much as she enjoyed it, which was a surprise to her, she couldn't help but feel a tad bit tired. She had gotten Rin to a point of where it was easier for her to breathe and she had stopped her shivering. Now all Nea had to do was get the little girl's fever to break then she herself could go home.

Home... she had been thinking about her "home" all the while she was taking care of the child. Could she really call that a home? Where she was locked in her room for most of her life? Where she had never seen any of her siblings except maybe only a handful of times? Where the woman that had raised and vowed to protect her wouldn't even come to her rescue or do anything to prevent the demon from taking her? She sighed before closing her eyes. She would have to think on this later. Right now she just wanted to rest and relax. But before that she wanted to make sure she still had something on her person.

She had her eyes open now as she reached into her robe searching for one of her most precious items. She smiled when she found it and pulled it out. It was her mother's ivory and black hair clip. She had taken it out and put it in her robes to keep it safe, seeing as she was moving a lot while taking care of the kid. She traced her fingers over the delicate black designs on the clip. As she was looking down she noted a certain pair of gold orbs staring up at her.

"Sesshomaru? Is there something I can do for you?" She asked.

"You could start by adding the "Lord" to my name, as that is what I am," He told her, irritated by her lack of manners, "And why are you up in a tree?"

She decided to completely ignore the first part. He was always addressing her as woman, so until he called her by her rightful name, she would call him by what irritated him most. His name.

"I'm in a tree because I don't wish to sleep near any of you, excluding Rin."

"My servants and I will do you no harm. Now come down."

"Welllll, it's not just that."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I like sleeping in trees actually," She admitted sheepishly. And it's true. She always had.

If Sesshomaru was capable of it he would have had a deadpan expression and a sweat drop on his forehead. This woman...she was starting to remind him of a female version of his younger brother. Just a little.

As he glanced back up at her he noticed something her hand. Was it a weapon of sorts? He narrowed his gaze.

"Woman, what is that in your hand?"

She blinked before realizing what he was talking about. She looked to her mother's hair clip before look back at him, holding the hair clip up.

"You mean this?"

He glared at her stupidity.

"That is the only thing in your hand at the moment, correct?"

"Oh...yea I guess you're right. Hehe." She said sheepishly.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

Sesshomaru mentally sighed in his head. How stupid could this girl be? Or was she playing stupid? He honestly couldn't tell at this point. He had only spent a little over 24 hours with her and already she had almost made him off of _**his**_ cloud, given him a headache, made his servant pass out from exhaustion, and managed to get him to speak over 30 words in one day. Truly, someone with this kind of talent should be given a medal. He was at his limit with this woman already.

"** .it?**" He managed to ground out.

"Oh. It's my mom's hair clip." She told him with a smile.

He could feel himself relaxing at this information. That is, until the girl continued to talk. Sesshomaru's face started to have an irritated look to it.

"I never got to really know my mom, considering she died shortly after I was born. I guess after twenty-one children anyone dies, huh? My dad gave this to me since I never knew her. It's really pretty, right?" She kept going on about her family, but Sesshomaru was stuck on one thing she said.

He raised his eyebrow at her. Twenty siblings? No wonder this girl was the way she was. Anyone would be a little bit stubborn and ill-mannered if their parent had twenty other sibling to pay attention to. He was suddenly thankful that his father only loved one human enough to have a child with her. The thought of having twenty Inuyasha like brothers and sisters made him go pale. What a hellish nightmare that'd be.

"Hey Sesshomaru," Nea asked "Do you have any siblings?"

She could have sworn she saw the demon shudder before answering her.

"Yes. A half-brother. Now go to bed." He ordered coldly.

"Oh, you don't wanna talk about him?" She asked smugly.

"No."

"But-!"

"Go to bed. Now." Sending her a venemous glare he turned his head away. What an annoying human.

Nea raised her eyebrow at him. What the hell bite him in the ass? Hhmp. Not her problem. That was her last thought before she fell asleep on the branch of the tree.


	9. Chapter 9 Falling

"Ughhhh. Ami! Shut the door!" Nea mumbled in her sleep.

She put her hand up to shield her eyes from what she thought was the sun from outside. Still annoyed that it was in her eyes and Ami wasn't doing as she told her, she decided to move over onto her side. If she had opened her eyes before deciding to do this, then maybe she would have realized she was sleeping in a tree...

"OH SHIT!"

She screamed as she continued to fall toward the ground. Her arms and legs were flailing about as she continued down toward the ground. Tears started forming at the corners of her eyes as moved closer and closer to the ground.

_"This is it."_ she thought, _"I'm a good twenty feet up from the ground. If I don't die I'm gonna be in pain until I DO die. Oh hell, I should have listened to Ami about sleeping in trees. She always told me I was gonna fall to my death. I didn't think it'd really happen though."_ Big fat tears were now in the corner of her eyes.

Just as she was about to hit the ground and hand snapped out and caught her green obi. Her feet were tucked underneath her and her arms were crossing her chest. She looked up at her demonic savoir.

He looked at her. Just looked at her. No glare or nothing. She couldn't tell if he was simply being nice or was so pissed off at her for having to save her that he wanted to break her neck himself. She prayed to kami that it was the first.

"Be more careful. I need you alive to take care of Rin." He said before dropping her on the ground.

She blinked in confusion. Well...it was better than the latter option, but not as quite nice as the first. She's just grateful that he hasn't killed her yet with the ill manners she's been using towards him. She couldn't understand what made her turn so stubborn or rude. Maybe she was naturally this way but because she was always by herself and never around others it just got pushed back? Hmm too difficult of a thing to think about this early in the morning. And she needed to check on the kid.

She stood up and walked over to the little girl. She was happy to see that the kid was resting peacefully and had broken her fever. Now all she had to do was show the dog youkai that his ward was alright and then she would be on her way home. Thank God. Her clothes were starting to smell and so was she. Not to mention the fact that she and that little imp-thing didn't get along to say the least. Even if it now didn't feel as home-ish as it had before, she still wanted to see her private garden.

The little girl started to wake up. Her large brown eyes stared up at Nea in amazement. Had the kid never seen other humans? Well, considering her traveling companions, she wouldn't say it sounded far-fetched. The child was still staring at her with that same look.

"You're so pretty! Are you a princess? Or are you the wife of a daimyo? And your hair is so long! Wow, it's such a pretty shade! Is it natural?" The child kept asking and asking.

Nea was shocked. Not only was the kid able to talk, but she called her pretty. Pretty. No one had ever called her that besides her father. Even Ami had never called her it. Usually it was her siblings that were called such things. Call her shallow, but Nea liked the kid a lot more than before now.

"Thank you." She smiled at the little girl, "You're very cute yourself. Your name's Rin, am I correct?"

"Yea it is! How did you know?" The child asked in amazement. Was this woman a physic?

"Your lord had said your name a couple of times." Nea laughed at the girl's amazement.

"Oh. Well what's your name?" Rin asked.

"Nea." She told Rin.

"Nea? I've never heard of it before. What does it mean?" Rin questioned.

"Ah. Yea. You've probably never heard of it before. My mom was from a different land, and since she was the one that named me I guess she would choose something from her home land. But my father told me it meant cloud when I asked." She explained.

Rin looked up at the woman in awe. She had never met someone that had parents from different lands.

"Oh! What's your mom like? Can she speak a different language?" Rin asked.

Nea's expression turned sad as she heard the little girl ask this. Out of all her father's children, she was the only one that couldn't answer this question. Even Ayane and Ayame had a little memory of her mother. The only thing she had of their mother was her name and her hair clip. Plus her appearance. That's all. She'd trade it all just to have one memory of her mother though.

Sesshomaru noticed the girl's expression and decided to help her out. He knew that his ward asked too many questions sometimes.

"Rin. Enough questions. Are you feeling better now?"

"Oh! Yes Lord Sesshomaru! Much better. Who healed me, Mi' Lord?" Rin inquired.

He simply nodded toward the woman. Rin looked back up at Nea, smiling widely.

"Oh, you must let me make you a flower wreath as a payment? Please? I promise, I'm very good at them." The kid begged.

Seeing the little girl look at her with her puppy eyes erased any thoughts of saying no to the kid. Who could honestly say no to perfected puppy dog eyes like the ones Rin had.

As the little girl was pulling her away toward the nearby field Nea had a strange thought cross her mind. What if Rin learned how to perfect her puppy dog eyes from Sesshomaru? The mere thought of the stoic man making a puppy dog face nearly sent her into fits of laughter.

Rin was giving the woman questionable stares as Nea quietly snickered to herself.


	10. Chapter 10 Unexpected changes

The two girls had been in the meadow for over two hours. During that time Jaken had woken up from his...nap. Sesshomaru had stayed by his tree the whole time. He was watching the two humans in the meadow. The woman now had her hair in a braid and flowers running through it with a flower wreath on her head thanks to Rin. Both girls were running around, playing "Tag", as they called it. However, Sesshomaru was still on the thing that was bothering him from earlier.

The woman, Nea, had come over toward him about an hour ago asking when she would be taken home. He guess since Rin was better and he had told her that he would take her home it was to be expected. But, for some strange reason, taking her back to that castle didn't seem right to him. It felt natural that she should be with them and travel in his company. She would keep his ward happy and take care of Rin. Plus, it was oblivious that both he and Jaken didn't know the first thing about taking care of humans.

He looked back to the girls. The more and more he thought about it the more and more it made since to keep the woman with them. She would be able to care of Rin better than they could. And now that he thought about it, she probably wouldn't be too welcomed back at that castle. Usually, women that were captured by demons and then returned back to a castle were normally hated. People came to the assumption that the woman had mated with a demon and was carrying that youkai's child, therefore usually resulting in the death of the woman. Also, he father had twenty other children as he recalled and she was supposedly the youngest. The man's eldest son was likely already named the heir so Sesshomaru doubted this woman would be missed at all.

That was it then, he decided. It wouldn't be much of a loss or problem if he kept this woman in his company to care for his young ward. He called her over to tell her of his decision.

"Woman. Come over here."

Nea looked up from where she was seated on the ground with Rin. She raised her eyebrow at him. Was he taking her home so soon?

She got up with Rin's hand in hers' as she made her way over to the dog daiyoukai. She got the strangest feeling in her stomach that something big was about to happen. She couldn't tell what, but she felt that whatever it was would drastically change her future plans. Finally she was facing Sesshomaru's side, seeing as the bastard would stand and face her for some unknown reason. The prick.

"Are you taking me home so early? I was hoping to spend some more time with Rin before I left you guys." She inquired.

"No. I am not."

"Oh well then in that case, when are you taking me back? Because there's still-"

"I am not going to be taking you home, woman." He cut her off.

She blinked at him, confused now by what he meant.

"What do you mean?"

"You will be staying with us. Rin needs a caretaker that is able to understand human needs. That is all." He told her. He made it sound so simply, like he wasn't determining her future for her.

Rin, who had been quiet the whole time, was now jumping up in down while holding Nea's hand. How could she not be excited? There would be another female in the group besides herself that she could do girl things with. She had tried to make Jaken play games with her, but he was always such a grouch. And Sesshomaru-sama was either busy or not around to play.

Speaking of Jaken... the imp had reappeared when Sesshomaru was telling Nea of her new job. The imp was practically in tears at hearing that they would have yet ANOTHER human with them. It was bad enough putting up with Rin, but now he would have to put up with this woman? His lord's taste in the company he kept was truly testing him he thought with a sigh.

Nea's thoughts were somewhere along the lines of Jaken's, only slightly different. She was slowly recovering from her shock and was becoming more and more pissed off. .Hell. Did this man think he was?! He had given her his word that after she had helped Rin get better he would take her back home. What the hell gave him the right to go back on it?! This fucker had some nerves if he thought she wasn't going object to his little half-assed proposal.

"You're fucking kidding me, right?"

**So, what do you guy's think of my oc Nea so far? And how do you like the story? And worry not for more chapters are coming your way. I'm just waiting for some more reviews ;)**

**Sincerely,**

**Wolves10**


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